Taiwan cuts FiTs by 11.88% but increases solar energy target to 130MW

Taiwan has further decreased its feed-in tariffs for 2013 by between 9.23% and 11.88%, while simultaneously increasing its solar power capacity target by 30%.

According to Taiwanese newspaper, Taipei Times, the Bureau of Energy has attributed the cuts to the decreasing costs of manufacturing solar panel modules.

The Bureau has set the tariffs for the first half of next year at NT$8.4 (US$0.2887) per kWh for rooftop solar energy a capacity below 10kW, NT$7.54 (US$0.2591) for between 10kW and 100kW, NT$7.12 (US$0.2447) for 100kW to 500kW, NT$6.33 (US$0.2175) for 500kW and above and NT$5.98 (US$0.2055) for ground-based installations.

Taipei Times notes that the new tariffs for the first half of next year are still higher than the average cost of NT$2.47 (US$0.0849) per kWh generated by Taipower, Taiwan Cogeneration Corp and independent power producers (IPPs) using fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

Furthermore, the bureau has raised the nation’s solar power capacity target to 130MW for next year. Tseng-tsai, Senior Specialist at the bureau’s energy technology division said the increase in the capacity target would encourage manufacturers to increase research and development, job opportunities could be created in other industries such as architecture, engineering and steel. Tseg said this could increase the total solar panel production value from NT$11.6 billion (US$399 million) this year to NT$13.2 billion next year.

“We forecast renewable energy companies will make higher profits next year compared with this year and there will be more firms entering the market, while expressing the hope that the nation’s photovoltaic exports would increase by 10 percent a year,” said Tseng.

Now that the PV industry has unquestionably entered a new growth phase, all eyes are on which technologies will win through into the mainstream of PV manufacturing. PERC, n-type, p-type bifacial, heterojunction – all have become familiar terms in the ever-growing constellation of solar cell technologies. The question is which will offer manufacturers what they are looking for in improving efficiencies and cutting costs.

Although the past few years have proved extremely testing for PV equipment manufacturers, falling module prices have driven solar end-market demand to previously unseen levels. That demand is now starting to be felt by manufacturers, to the extent that leading companies are starting to talk about serious capacity expansions later this year and into 2015. This means that the next 12 months will be a critical period if companies throughout the supply chain are to take full advantage of the PV industry’s next growth phase.